


Mindscape

by Moonalight



Series: Burning Heart [1]
Category: Max Steel (TV 2013)
Genre: romantically, they're together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:01:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26240806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonalight/pseuds/Moonalight
Summary: A mental landscape.
Relationships: Max McGrath/Steel
Series: Burning Heart [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987615
Kudos: 22





	Mindscape

******  
The mindscape scared Max in the beginning. It was weird, having another person connected directly to his brain. Or, not a ‘person’, an ultralink. Was still weird. 

In the beginning it wasn’t that strong. A small flash here or there. Voices and reroutes controlled by an outside source. An area he was barely aware of, dark and glowing at the same time. The place he and Steel shared. 

Then they started growing closer. Things started to grow insane, and they realized the only people they could trust were each other. Everyone else was a liar, a traitor.

That’s when it started happening. 

All the secrets had made them paranoid. Neither of them ever felt safe, ever felt like they had privacy. NTek was always there. They were always watching, always spying and manipulating. 

Their conversations stopped being audible. Whenever they wanted to talk, they did so in the mindscape. Whenever they wanted to train, they did so in the mindscape. Even when they just wanted to relax, they did so in the mindscape. 

It got to the point that people began commenting on the fact that Steel hardly ever separated from Max. Almost like they actually cared. As if.  
******  
“Hey, Steel?” 

“Yeah buddy?”

“Isn’t the mindscape a little boring?”

That little exchange changed things further. Steel started working, and by the end of the day they knew how to shape the scape into whatever they wanted. Most often they chose a little grove though. Completely unattached to anything personal.

It was more freeing that way.  
******  
Within their little forest grove was also where Max learned something new about his partner. He had never expected it, but he actually enjoyed the idea.

Steel could make himself look however he wanted. 

And he chose to make himself human. In appearance at least. Underneath it all, he was still the same ultralink. But Max really liked it. For many reasons. Reasons they’d been skirting around for ages.

Honestly, it was impossible to hide thoughts from someone sharing your brain. And it was also impossible to hide thoughts when you were inside someone’s brain. 

They were both fully aware they found each other attractive. They just hadn’t wanted to bring it up. It seemed impossible. 

Steel was an alien robot, in essence. And Max was human. 

Until they learned Max was more than human, was half takion. That was when Steel revealed his ability to alter his appearance. That was also when they finally confronted their feelings toward each other.  
******  
The bodies hadn’t been what they were attracted to. Sure, Max was objectively good looking when compared to other humans, but not in a way that could attract Steel. It was the same situation reversed. Steel looked cool, but Max wasn’t attracted to a machine’s appearance. 

His human appearance was much different.

He made himself appear a teenager, the same age as Max. With floofy black hair and eyes that glowed the same as his normal ones. Pale skin, like he didn’t get enough sun but was reminiscent of his white paint tones. And, because he liked to challenge the human, he made himself just the tiniest bit taller and more muscular.

“You did that one purpose,” Max grumbled, face flushed as he took him in. Not to say there was anything wrong with Steel’s normal body. There were just more options with this one. 

“You find too much muscle unattractive,” Steel pointed out, crossing his arms in such a him move, “but you like guys that are a little taller.”

“So you designed this appearance based on my preferences?” 

“Partially,” Steel dropped his arms, turning over his hands curiously as he looked at himself, “This is essentially how I would like to appear as a human. It meeting your preferences was not exactly necessary.”

Of course it wasn’t. They were attracted to each other’s minds and personalities, not bodies. 

“Steel,” his voice was slightly strangled. It took Max longer than he wanted to stop looking the new appearance over and focus on his friend’s face. Friend. Hopefully more soon.

“I hope so too,” and Steel smirked. Honest to goodness, smirked! Sure, they’d always been able to communicate with his display plate, but actually seeing his emotions spread across his face was amazing. It truly got across how narcissistic and cocky the ultralink was.

“That means-?” Means what? They were a thing now? There wasn’t exactly a guide on how to make this work.

“It means, Maxwell,” Steel moved forward slowly, still smirking as though testing out his body’s ability to show expressions, “that I want to be with you.” 

Max had started to back up when the other began approaching. It almost felt like he was being hunted, but he was stopped when his back hit a tree. Logically he knew the tree wasn’t actually there. That it was just a hologram of the mindscape. 

It didn’t feel any less solid when Steel stopped in front of him. 

Those glowing aqua eyes were so familiar, he could never place them as anything other than Steel’s. It was that familiarity that had him reaching out and wrapping his arms around the body. 

He felt hands wrap around him just as tightly, actual hands holding him close. They’d hugged before but those times were him just pulling the little body against his chest. Now, Steel was hugging him back. It may have just been an illusion, but he could feel the heat of the other. It was amazing.

“I love you, Steel.”

“I love you too, Max.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, they're together. It was a fever dream I liked.  
> Maybe I'll do more. I have a whole idea for this, but it's a little awkward since it'll involve changing some of the show moments.


End file.
